The definition of versatility in athletics can begin and end with Kim Wallace. Her career at Augustana was not long as she transferred in prior to her junior year after attending Black Hawk East Junior College in Kewanee, Illinois. What she lacked in duration, however, she more than made up for in accomplishments.
She had two seasons of outdoor eligibility (1993 & 1994) and she was able to compete three years in indoor track, using her last year in 1995. During that time, she showed an impressive combination of strength, speed and endurance as she rewrote the record book.
Wallace won the heptathlon in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin in her first year with the Vikings in 1993 when she scored 4,199 points. She also won the 100 hurdles in :15.15, placed second in the high jump with a clearance of 5’ 1”, was third in the javelin with a toss of 112’ 9” and fourth in the long jump with a leap of 16’ 7 ½”. Augustana won the team title with 288 points and Wallace was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the meet. She finished the year by winning All-American honors in the NCAA Division III national meet when she finished fourth in the heptathlon.
In 1994 she was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the CCIW meet once again as she led the Vikings to another team title. She repeated her victory in the heptathlon by scoring 4,299 points and she also won the high jump (5’5”), the javelin (124’ 8”) and the 100 hurdles (:14.5). For good measure she placed third in the long jump and seventh in the shot put.
That set her up for the NCAA Division III national meet, which was held in Naperville, Illinois. She became the first women’s track & field individual champion in Augustana history when she won the heptathlon with 4,715 points. She was named the team’s MVP at the conclusion of the season.
Because she did not compete in indoor track while at Black Hawk East, she had one more season of indoor eligibility left and she used it in 1995. It was a fitting conclusion to her career as she earned All-American honors in the long jump (6th), the high jump (6th) and the 50 hurdles (4th).
When she graduated in 1995 with a degree in biology she turned her attention to the pole vault, an event that wasn’t available to her during her collegiate days. She placed third in the 1998 AAU national meet and qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials. She participated in the Pan American Games, the Goodwill Games and the World Junior Nationals. She was inducted into the Prairie State Games Hall of Fame in 2003, the first female honored.
She now resides in Toulon, Illinois and is employed as a physical therapy assistant at Advanced Rehab in Galesburg, Illinois. Kim and her husband John have a daughter Lena and a son Johnathan.
